Christopher lewis



' (No Model.)

C. LEWIS.

FEED DEVI'E FOR ROLLING MILLS. N0. 247,931. Patented Oct. 4,1881.

. WITNESSES: l Y -INVBNToRgr d2@ Y f6.

f f ATTORNEYS.

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UNrrED STATESA PATENT @trices CHRISTOPHER LEWIS, OF OOLUMBUSOHIO.

FEED DEVICE FOR ROLLING-MILLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 247,931, dated October4, 1881.

Application led July 27, 188,1. (No model.)

To all Iwhom it may concern -Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER Lewis, ofColumbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented anew and Improved Feeder for `Continuous Rolling-Mills; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming partof this specification, in Which- Figure 1 is a plan View. Fig. 2 is aside elevation, looking in the direction of the arrow fr.

In an application for a patent filed by me January 12, 1881, I describeda novel construction of rolling-mill for rolling bars of iron or steel,railroad-rails, and the like, in which I contemplated the continuonspassage of the rail or bar through the entire series of rolls,

- each alternate pair of which had a reversed movement, so that therail, after passing through one pair of rolls, was received on a buggy,which was made laterally adjustable to the next pair of rolls betweenwhich the rail was entered and rolled, and upon the delivery side ofwhich pair of rolls another laterally-adjusta,` ble buggy was made toreceive the rail and transfer it to the next, my object being todispense with the great number of workmen ordinarily employed for thiswork, and to secure a rapid, continuous, and practically automaticaction.

My present invention relates to the construction and arrangement ofafeeder for such rollin gmill, or a device for transferring the bloom tothe furnace, and also from the furnace to the first pair of rolls; andto this end it consists, principally, in one or more buggies pivoted atone end in line with the first pair of rolls, and having its other endarranged to swing upon a curved track, so that it may be i, swung out tothe line in which the bloom is withdrawn from the furnace and thenreturned to the line of feed to the rolls.

The invention also consists in the combination, with these swinging`buggies, of shafts, clutches, drums, and chains for operating them, andalso in the combination of the supportingrollers of these buggies withdevices for rotating them to advance the bloom whenever the vbuggy isthrown into line with the rolls, all as hereinafter more fullydescribed.

In the drawings, A represents the main shaft, which act-uates the seriesof rolls, as described in my application referred to.

B represents the. first of these series of rolls. Upon the feed side ofthis pair of rolls, and in line therewitlnis one, two, or more swingingbuggies, D D.

E is a drive-shaft for operating the movable buggies, which drive-shaftis arranged parallel to the line of feed to the first roll and at rightangles tothe main shaft A, to which latter it is connected through abevel-gear, and fromV which main shaft it derives its motion. Thestationary buggy has one or more of its supporting-rollers driven by theshaft E, so that a bloom delivered upon the same will be positively andautomatically fed between the lirst pair of rolls.

D is the first of the swinging buggies. This is mounted at one end upona vertical pivot, arranged at c in the line of feed to the rolls, and-atits other end it is provided with wheels that travel upon the curvedtrack d, so that the said buggy may be turned from a position more orless at right angle to the line of feed to receive the bloom from thefurnace, and be then turned into alignment with the stationary buggy Cand the rolls to advance the bloom to the said rolls. To give thesemovements to this buggy there are placed upon the shaft E three loosedrums, F F F2, which are arranged to be connected with the shaft forrigid revolution by frictionclutches f j" f2. One of these drums, F,connects with the free end of the buggy D on one side by a chain, g, andserves to pull the buggy into alignment with the rolls. Another oneofthe drums, F2, connects with the free end of the buggy on the otherside by a chain, g2, and serves to pull the buggy into a right-angularposition to receive the bloom from the furn ace N o. l, and the otherdrum, F', on this shaft connects with a chain, g', which lies directlyover the buggy when in a right-angular position to the line of feed, andconnects with the tongs for holding the bloom, and by which the bloom isdrawn from the furnace No. l onto the buggy D, when the latter is in theposition shown in dotted lines.

On the shaft E is a worm, G, and clutch H, rotated thereby, while acorresponding clutch, I, is arranged upon the extension of one of the astationary bugg O, and

ICQ

journals ofthe bugg 7-rollers, so that when the buggy is thrown intoline with the rolls B the clutch I of this buggy is projected againstthe clutch H, and the feed-rollerof the buggy being rotated thereby, thebloom resting on the same is advanced to the stationary buggy, andpasses thence between the rolls from the inlinence of clutches H3 I3 andworm G3.

A second movable bugg i, and also a third and fourth, may be arranged towork in connection with a greater number of furnaces. I have shown asecond buggy, D', which works the second furnace, which latter islocated upon the opposite side of the shaft E from the first furnacethat supplies buggy D. This second bugghY is pivoted at one end in theline of the rst stationary buggy and the rolls, and swings on a circulartrack to the right of the line of feed. For operating it acounter-shaft, E', is laid parallel to E, and connected therewiththrough a short shaft, H2, and bevel-gears. Upon this counter-shaft arearranged for this buggy the three drums, clutches, and frictioni feed ina manner similar to the first swinging buggy, which parts I have notshown in the drawings.

By means ot' this invention the feeding of the steel from the furnace tothe continuous mill is effected mechanically7 and a great numberof menemployed for this purpose dispensed with.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. Thecombination, with the main shaft A ot' a rolling-mill, of aright-angular shaft, E, equipped with drums, chains, and clutches, asdescribed, and one or more swinging bugges mounted at one end upon avert-ical pivot in the line of feed, and swinging upon a track at theother end, so as to receive the bloom when in one position, and then bethrown into alignment with the rolls, as described.

2. The combination, with the irst rolls ofa rolling-mill, of avertically-pivoted buggy, mechanism for turning it horizontally, and acoupling for rotating the feed-roller of the buggy when in alignmentwith the direction of feed for the advance of the bloom, as described.

3. The combination, with the stationary buggy G and the pivoted buggy D,ot' the shaft E, having three sets of drums and clutches and chainsconnecting with thebuggy,as described.

4. The combination, with the pivoted and swinging buggy D and the shaftE, with its triple sets ot' drums and clutches, of the second pivotedbugg i, D', arranged to swing in the opposite direction, and acounter-shaft, E, provided with a triplicate set ot' drums and clutches,and connected with the shaft E by a short right-angular shaft andbevel-wheels, as described.

CHRISTOPHER LEWIS.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. IRWIN, EUGENE SNYDER.

